Speaker 1: CrossFit. It's like regular gym, but faster and with more handstands.
Speaker 1: It requires all round body strength and incredible willpower. Probably
Speaker 1: helps to have a good sense of humor too, because
Speaker 1: the sport certainly has its critics. No wonder then than
Speaker 1: an Aussie's one more CrossFit world titles than anyone. Hey,
Speaker 1: welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers,
Speaker 1: and the weird stuff between. I'm Tony Armstrong. All jokes aside.
Speaker 1: CrossFit is an epic test of strength and coordination, and
Speaker 1: even though it feels like a young person's game, it's
Speaker 1: actually been around for almost twenty five years. And for
Speaker 1: sure it feels a bit like a cult and the
Speaker 1: internet comments sections are so toxic they need hazardous waste warnings.
Speaker 1: But true CrossFit competitors are serious athletes, which is where
Speaker 1: te Declared Toomey comes in. Before CrossFit Queensland, to Toomey
Speaker 1: was a track and field athlete. She grew up in
Speaker 1: Cane Farm Territory and she loved to run, becoming known
Speaker 1: for her running and hurdling as a teenager. CrossFit came
Speaker 1: into her life a few years later via her partner
Speaker 1: Shane or a local rugby union player who swore by
Speaker 1: it for keeping him fit for ball sports. Toomey took
Speaker 1: to it like a duck to water. Less than a
Speaker 1: month after joining. In twenty thirteen, she was participating in
Speaker 1: the CrossFit Open, the first step towards qualifying for the
Speaker 1: world competition. After only two years of that, she entered
Speaker 1: the twenty fifteen CrossFit Games as a rookie. What's that well,
Speaker 1: the CrossFit website says, it's like being a high school freshman.
Speaker 1: The big kids seem to have it all together while
Speaker 1: you're just hoping you can find your next class and
Speaker 1: someone to sit with at lunch. Feels like a lot
Speaker 1: of us when we go to a regular gym. To
Speaker 1: be honest, Tea Claire Toomey surprised everyone by taking out
Speaker 1: second place and earning her Rookie of the Year, and
Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen she returned and did it again. Both
Speaker 1: times she was runner up. Unlike most crossfitters whose schedules
Speaker 1: revolve around the workout of the day, or what as
Speaker 1: it's called, Toomey's time in the gym was having an
Speaker 1: unusual side effect with deadlifts, barbell squats, and clean and
Speaker 1: jerks on the agenda, she was learning the basics of weightlifting,
Speaker 1: a sport. Turned out she had some serious natural talent
Speaker 1: for after just eighteen months of official training, she finished
Speaker 1: third at the Oceana Weightlifting Championships and qualified for the
Speaker 1: Olympics in Brazil, Tomy competed in the women's fifty eight
Speaker 1: kilogram division, finishing in fourteenth place. With that World championship complete,
Speaker 1: she returned to the CrossFit Game stage. In twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: She fought a close battle to beat out her fellow
Speaker 1: Australian Karra Webb by only two points, her first win,
Speaker 1: but far from her last. In twenty eighteen, she blitzed
Speaker 1: the field, winning by sixty four points. She then extended
Speaker 1: her margin again in twenty nineteen when she won by
Speaker 1: a monster one hundred and ninety five points, becoming the
Speaker 1: first woman to win three CrossFit Games. After that, she
Speaker 1: just kept going. In twenty twenty, she put on the
Speaker 1: most dominant display ever by a female athlete at the Games.
Speaker 1: That year, Toomy won nine of the twelve finals star events,
Speaker 1: giving her an unbelievable three hundred and sixty point advantage
Speaker 1: over her closest competitor in second place. The very same
Speaker 1: athlete who had beaten her years before twice. Toomey's victory snowballed.
Speaker 1: She set a new game's record score when she won
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, which also saw her equal the
Speaker 1: number of wins by any crossfitter man or woman. When
Speaker 1: Tea Claire hit the mats again in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: the pressure was on. She had a slow start, finishing
Speaker 1: event number three with the second worst finish of her career.
Speaker 1: Did it stop her, no, sir. She stormed the field
Speaker 1: over the rest of the weekend to finish once again
Speaker 1: at the top of the podium. That day, Tea Claire
Speaker 1: Toomey became the only person to ever win six titles
Speaker 1: in the long and storied history of CrossFit, a record
Speaker 1: she holds to this day. Twenty sixteen wasn't even the
Speaker 1: last time Tomy calli for the Olympics. In twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: she won two races in South Korea in Bob's lad
Speaker 1: that's not even in CrossFit. She and her team qualified
Speaker 1: for the twenty twenty two Winter Olympics, though they weren't selected.
Speaker 1: Tea Claire to me is still the only athlete to
Speaker 1: compete in the Olympics and the CrossFit Games in the
Speaker 1: same year. Thanks for listening to the Ballroom and iHeart production.
Speaker 1: I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll speak to you soon. Catcher